The courtroom was filling fast, and still more were making their entrances. Family members of Fancy Pants had been notified of the accusation against him were appalled that these types of offenses could even be connected with his name. Child abuse, both physical and sexual? He was a married man, surely he wouldn't do such a thing.

"All rise for Princess Celestia."

The entire room rose to their hooves, and turned to see Princess Celestia entering the room. She sat down at the bench, and sighed. "At ease, let's just get this over as fast as possible. Firstly, the prosecution must state the case."

Legal Rebut, the lawyer Cheerilee hired, spoke. "Your Highness, my client, Scootaloo, went to school one morning. There, her teacher noticed severe bruising around the neck, and lacerations along the bottom of her wings..."

"Objection, Your Honor, those marks could have been caused by anything. A careless filly walking into a bush or the like." Fancy Pants' lawyer, Legal Aid, spoke up.

"You make a good argument, but the cuts in question were rhythmic. They extended along the entire bottom side of her wings, and the bruises were along her neck, as if she had previously had something around her neck. We have photographic evidence to support this."

"You have no physical proof that my client was the one who created the marks, it could have been anypony in Equestria. Unless you have witnesses, this is an enormous waste of time."

"We do, in fact, have witnesses. Several, to be precise, and one of them is one of the Elements of Harmony, Applejack."

The courtroom gasped, as Applejack stepped up to the witness stand. She turned to the rest of the room. "Ms. Applejack, can you tell the court what you saw?"

Applejack cleared her throat. "I can. We were ivestigatin' one night, 'cause we were concerned 'bout Scootaloo. We had set up a bug in his house, because it recorded audio..."

"Objection, Your Highness. That was an invasion of privacy. You had no right to plant that device, and you certainly had no right to do so on random claims from a filly, that's clearly not in a normal state of mind."

Applejack was fuming. "We have evidence. And I saw him in the act."

The court mumbled and murmured, and Celestia banged her gavel for silence. "You may present said evidence. And you, Legal Aid, I expect you to retain a better tone of voice. Continue."

The evidence was brought in to the room. There was a slideshow setup, and Legal Rebut stepped up. "These are pictures of the marks on Scootaloo's body. There are long, straight cuts here, here, and here." He pointed at every mark individually. "And several more here. You can clearly see the bruises on her neck here as well. Next, we have x-rays from a medical examination. These are her broken ribs, and you can see that several were close to puncturing her lungs. In addition, I would like to call Nurse Redheart to the stand."

"You may do so." Celestia was getting slightly disturbed.

Nurse Redheart sat down at the stand. "Nurse Redheart, correct? Would you care to tell the court what you discovered?"

Nurse Redheart nodded. "I can." She walked over to the screen. "As has already been mentioned, the filly has several lacerations along her wing, legs, and neck, along with severe bruising along the neck area. But she also had severe vaginal damage. I suggest everypony offended by nudity to turn away." She switched the screen over to the next slide. "As you can see, there are several marks along the vaginal walls, as well as bruising of the cervix, here. Multiple abrasions can be seen here, and here. These are all signs of rape, and therefore may act as the evidence to support such claims."

Legal Aid stepped forward. "These marks could have been caused by anything, or anypony. You have no real proof that my client was the one who committed these acts."

"Ah, but I do. I found a clear white substance near the backmost walls. I extracted the substance, and upon examining it found it was pony semen. If you wouldn't mind, I would like to take a sample from your client."

This time, Celestia spoke up. "I'm sorry but we can't allow that, as it is indecent and the specimen has the ability to be tampered with. You must find another way to proceed."

Nurse Redheart sighed. "As you wish. May I summon Flash Sentry to the stand?"

"You may, but can I ask what you need of him?"

He was the guard who arrested Fancy Pants, and he was also a witness. But before I summon him, may I play the audio tape we recorded?"

Celestia nodded, and Redheart produced the tape. She set up the device and pressed play. The sounds from that night played, and the entire court could hear breaking and smashing, and then sounds of a stallion grunting. And then his words. "Come here, you little brat. Make me feel good."

The jury was shocked by this, and mumbled to each other in hushed argument. Nurse Redheart had on a small smile, and turned to the courtroom. "Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, that was the voice of Fancy Pants, you heard it yourselves! You cannot deny it's his voice..."

"Objection, Your Highness. That tape could have easily been tampered with, and could also have been staged with any number of stallions."

"It was his voice on that tape! You can't deny it!"

"I can, and I am. Any number of stallions could share his tone of voice. And anypony could mimic his accent. Your 'evidence' can't be proved."

"Do remember, I still have another witness. Flash Sentry."

Flash walked over to the stand. Celestia looked at him with a quizzical expression, then looked at the clock. "I'm sorry, but this will have to wait. We will have a thirty minute recess, in which time you may get your case together, and we an think with clear heads."

Celestia banged her gavel again, and everypony filed out of the room. Celestia looked at Cheerilee with Scootaloo, and sighed. If the accusations were true, she would be sure that after Fancy Pants' sentence was finished, she would banish him, personally.

Author's Note

Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter, where Cheerilee's case will get some unexpected help. ;)

Anyway, as usual, I hope you're enjoying, and if not, tell me why. I appreciate constructive criticism. Thank You!